Customer Reviews

Fifth Chinese Daughter

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first read Fifth Chinese Daughter as a high school assignment in 1967. I was taking a San Francisco history course. I read the book as required and then put it back in the library and moved on to other things. 20 years later I found a very used copy in a second hand book store and decided to give it another read. I am glad I did. Fifth Chinese Daughter is a story of growing up in one world and growing out into another. Jade Snow Wong was born into the family of a Chinese businessman who was also a protestant church minister. Her story is one of the tradition of a Chinese family where sons are valued and daughters seemingly less so. Jade Snow Wong overcomes the traditions of her family and her heritage and proves herself in the classroom. She also learns the independence required to progress in American society, taking odd-jobs throughout her high school career; finding herslef in constant contact with a very alien world she has up to then only seen at a distance, a world of American families. She faces critical choices in her college aspirations, when she has to decide between the University of California or San Francisco City College. Her choice of City College, was in the long run, one of her wisest choices because it moved her into a much more representative segment of American and San Francisco society. Her decision to attend Mills College was also a wise choice for it allowed her to develope her skills as a potter and lead her to a new vocation, far from the traditional ones of the period. Her war work in the ship yards is also extremely well told and is, again, an extremely important segment of American history that needs to be told. Jade Snow Wong emerges from World War II able to work as a potter and show her talents to a very interested public, and grow in the opinion and respect of her family. This is a story of persistence,love of learning, growth and at the same time it is a book of love and respect for her family. I highly recommend it to any student of American history.

This book is one of the few which captures a lot of the emotions, both the joys and continuous angst which Americans of Asian descent of all ages still have to contend with, especially females. Her identity crisis and emotional turmoil give validation to the intense internal struggles which Americans born children of Asian immigrants wrestle with. Despite the fact that her story evolved decades ago, her issues still arise today, two generations later. I have re-read this book several times.

The Fifth Chinese Daughter is an excellently written novel about a Chinese American girl growing up in San Francisco's Chinatown. When this book arrived in the mail the last thing I wanted to do was read it when I could play my X-box and watch T.V. After a week I finally got around to reading a chapter and was surprised to find myself reading it all day. Unfortunately I didn't pick it up again until I was in Sedona with my Dad. There I read all but fourteen pages. It wasn't for another week until I finished.
This story was expertly written and fun to read. Despite my early protests I enjoyed hearing about a young oriental girl change from a well-disciplined Chinese daughter growing up in Chinatown to an artist who finally achieved the recognition from her family she had longed for since childhood. It gave a sense of evolution, struggle, and triumph, as the book progresses. It explains a child's need for acceptance, respect, and material riches as Jade Snow Wong progresses through school, odd jobs, collage, and adulthood.
This book is obviously a book I would recommend to others because it always has the main character striving to survive in a stereotypical world. It shows Jade Snow's personality being that the harder it got the harder she would try. This is shown many times in the book, like when she went to the employment agents and found jobs in house working. Also when she got into Mills Collage, that she wanted more then just to clean houses and end up as a house wife like she had been raised and become something more.
Unlike other novels I've read this summer this one sticks out by its great writing style and many twists. An example of witch is when she gets a job at a shipyard and works for what seems might be the whole war when she gets only one job option, to be a secretary. She turns it down when she gets an idea to shape pottery and then to sell it. Her accomplishments as an artist finally drive her family to recognize her. The book has many unexpected twists and turn and was a joy to read.

In the book Fifth Chinese Daughter by Jade Snow Wong, the author tells readers about her childhood as a Chinese girl living in San Francisco. Ms. Wong gives readers a chance to see what life was like growing up during the early 1900s as a Chinese girl. Throughout the book, you learn many things Chinese-Americans do which are different from American customs. Readers are given an idea of how Chinese-Americans raised their families during that time. The author shows in vivid detail what happened to her and what she had to work for in her childhood.
Jade Snow was brought up in a household that made sure their children knew their native culture as well as the culture around them. Since an early age, Jade was given Chinese lessons by her father until she was old enough to attend Chinese school everyday after her American classes were over. The book chronicles Jades life from her early childhood to when she becomes a young woman living on her own. Throughout the book, you see Jade learn to do the shopping for the family, cope with problems in school like discrimination, get into college on her own, and find jobs for herself.
There were many things I liked about this book. Even though, this book isnt like the books I normally read, it was very hard to put down. The author writes her story in
graphic details, which pulled me into the book. I loved how she talked about her father in many ways, how some days he believed in her and others, he had no confidence in her. Also, I believe that Jade was a strong girl throughout her childhood. This is because she had to live with such strict rules in her household like respecting her elders, and how if she or her siblings did anything wrong, they would get punished by getting whipped.
If I were to compare this novel with others I have read, I would have to say that this novel is in my top 50 books I have ever read. I found that every page I turned in this book, I was wondering what would happen next. This novel was very fun to read because I liked learning about what life was like for a young Chinese-American Women growing up during the early 1900s.
I would most likely recommend this novel to another, unless the person did not like autobiographies. I would recommend this book to people who like reading about people of different cultures. Jade Snows book is geared more to people who like to read about peoples cultures, but I think many would find this book very interesting.

Through out most of Jade Snow Wong's life, she grew up in a Chinatown in San Francisco with Chinese traditions. These traditions meant that her husband was picked for her, her parents made her attend a public school and a Chinese school at the same time, and she had to help with all the house hold chores and cooking. Jade Snow wanted independence from these traditions, so she went to collage. There, she learned how to live her own life.

I liked this novel because it taught you many different things. For example, it taught you many different Chinese traditions and how hard it was growing up being a girl in a traditional Chinese house and that is also why it makes this novel unique and remarkable. My overall impression of this book would be good and I recommend this book to others, but mostly girls because it is about a girl's life.

At first I found this book simple and slow, but as Jade Snow moved on through her life it was interesting to see through her eyes, life as a young Chinese girl raised in San Fran's Chinatown. For her age and time she made some remarkable movements as a double minority (Chinese and a woman) during war time. After reading the whole book I went back to reread her introduction which seemed to be a disclaimer of her humble bragging of all she had accomplished. No doubt she made some marvelous strides for herself, and as a representive of her community her accomplishments were enhancing. She reflects how she was raised and gleans the best to pass on to her children (as we all try to do) allowing them some of the struggles she herself grew from. One would hope however in the given day she has revised her stereotypical view of female/male roles and story of God's creation of races with skin color. Overall it was an enjoyable read, and helps to see the world from anothers perspe! ctive. She sends a stong and heartfelt message through her simple description that she could make her dreams a reality through perserverance and the knowledge her family had imparted to her.

"You must have confidence that I shall remain true to the spirit of your teachings. I shall bring back to you the knowledge of whatever I learn." Fifth Chinese Daughter is an inspiring autobiography that traces the life of Jade Snow Wong from childhood to adulthood in San Francisco's Chinatown. In her book, Jade Snow describes the numerous hardships and rewards that shaped her life. Through her vivid descriptions, the reader is immersed in the Asian culture of early twentieth-century America. Looking through Jade Snow's eyes, the reader is able to experience the conflicting cultural experiences of the middle daughter of a large family of Chinese immigrants.
Conforming to Chinese tradition, Jade Snow felt that her worth as an individual was dictated by her family. Although Jade Snow's father took pride in educating his daughters in both Chinese and American customs, he valued the future potential of his sons over that of his daughters. Jade Snow's childhood is tainted by unjust punishment and suppressed emotion. Such experiences led her to pursue independence and acknowledgment in a country that offered numerous opportunities for well-educated young woman. However, from her difficult childhood, Jade Snow learned discipline and respect, qualities that allowed her to succeed and gain respect from her family. It is fascinating to witness her transformation from a submissive child to a woman of integrity and perseverance.
As Jade Snow tirelessly worked her way through college, she came to understand the injustices of Chinese tradition. Ironically, at this time, she also developed a greater appreciation for her Chinese heritage and through it discovered her life's passions. Despite the heavy skepticism and criticism of her family, Jade Snow pursued her dreams with optimistic determination, suffering many hardships along the way. In each of her life's stories she proves to us that great rewards come from hard work and unfailing belief in one's self. If you ever feel hopeless or just want to be inspired, Jade Snow's story will lift you out of your darkness.

This a great and simply written story of a Chinese girl growing up in America. This book reminds me of books that we would read in school, but has much more meaning and character.

As an Asian American, I really related to the story, feeling the pinches of the stifling and strict ways of her traditionally Chinese parents. I felt the struggles, as she relayed them to me, of trying to break free and be an independent American.

This book also shows us the importance of discipline and perseverance (something that her parents instilled in her).

This is a great coming of age story as well as a story of cultural struggles and generational differences between parents and their children.

It was a great joy reading this book!! I'll probably buy
copies for my asian american neices!

This book is one of the favorites of my childhood -- I still have the copy I acquired in 1963, when I was 12. I am thrilled to see that it is in print so that my students can read it. Fifth Chinese Daughter is an autobiography, not a novel, as a number of reviewers wrote. The story is so compelling, however, that I can understand why a young reader might think of fiction. Readers are treated to an inside look at a closed immigrant community. Chinese culture and language made assimiliation complicated, and not even desired by many Chinese families in the first half of the 20th century. It is easy to identify with Jade Snow's struggle to balance her quest for independence with the expectations, and respect for,her family and her culture. The universality of these conflicts presents readers with the opportunity to develop insight into their own lives, while Jade Snow's collision with American culture still applies to contemporary issues faced by first generation Americans.

The Fifth Chinese Daughter

The Fifth Chinese Daughter is a great book. It is about a girl and her life in China Town. The book showed me Chinese customs and how the Chinese eat, work and how their life was in the nineteen hundreds. I liked how the author showed the girl's life from the girl's point of view but also having it from the author's view. I also liked how the author showed how strict the daughter's father and mother were but as she accomplished things, her parents liked and trusted her more and more. Although the author did jump from one subject to a totally different subject from time to time, it was, a great book.
If I were to be rating novels that I have read, The Fifth Chinese Daughter would be 2nd on my list. It kept me wanting to read to find out what was going to happen next in the daughter's life. Other novels that I have read have been so extremely boring it took me weeks to finish one of them.
This was one of the greatest books that I probably will ever read. I would definitely recommend this novel to other kids who want a great book to read. You could probably make a few Chinese dishes if you read this book. It is a great book for showing people how a Chinese family suffered throughout the great depression and WWII but got through it with their small jean business and the help of their fifth daughter. The book also shows Chinese culture, which is great to learn because there are many Chinese people in the United States.